He said: “We are especially concerned that Wilson Bowden has changed the purpose of the anchor building from department store, which is itself not a particularly attractive southern aspect, to a combination of supermarket and hotel, neither of which were favoured by the local community and which are, in principle, unlikely to affirm the distinctive historic appearance and character of Wokingham.

“As indicated, the society will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with the council and now the developers alongside the local residents whose concerns we endeavour to encapsulate and represent.”

The council and Wilson Bowden have said the figures for the new town centre would not add up without the food store in place.

Councillor Matt Deegan, executive member for community regeneration, said redeveloping Elms Field and the Peach Place site together made the project viable.

He said: “The reason the Peach Place scheme [from Rock Investment Group in 2007] did not work is because it wasn’t viable on its own.

“We needed to bring the two sites together to make it work. Lots of people wanted a department store or had different ideas for an anchor store on Elms Field. But all three different developers [on the shortlist to work with the council] all came to the same conclusion the only way to get this scheme viable was to have the food store. It is important to know without the food store we do not get anything.”

He added the struggling town centre desperately needs to be redeveloped.

He said: “In the consultation everyone agreed doing nothing was not an option.”